Akkadica 137, 200-203 06

~2041 BCE·Ur III · Neo-Sumerian·P416125

About this tablet

A one-day livestock receipt from Puzriš-Dagan (modern Drehem), the great royal animal-collection center near Nippur, written in the reign of Šulgi of Ur (year 42, when the highland town of Šašru was sacked). The chief herd administrator Abbasaga hands over a single day's intake — 529 head of sheep and goats — and an officer named Intaea signs for them. Thousands of such dockets survive; together they form one of the most detailed animal-accounting archives from the ancient world, tracking beasts destined for temple offerings, the royal table, and state distributions.

Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.

Written in modern English

Receipt for day 3: 337 sheep, 34 lambs, 147 mature billy-goats and 11 goats, transferred out of Abbasaga's holdings and taken into the custody of Intaea. Dated to the month of the Šulgi Festival, in the year the city of Šašru was destroyed. Total confirmed at the bottom of the tablet: 529 head.

A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.

Translation — our engine

Our engine

Medium confidence

337 sheep, 34 lambs, 147 full-grown billy-goats, 11 goats — (this is) the 3rd day. From Abbasaga, Intaea took them in charge. Month: "Festival of Šulgi." Year: Šašru was destroyed. (summary) 529 sheep (in total).

Indicative reading — translated without a photograph. Generated from the transliteration alone, without examining the original. Read it as an accessible first taste, not as a verified catalogue entry.

Our translation engine — Opus 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.

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Transliteration

5(gesz2) 3(u) 7(disz) udu
3(u) 4(disz) sila4
2(gesz2) 2(u) 7(disz) masz2-gal
1(u) 1(disz) masz2
u4 3(disz)-kam
ki ab-ba-sa6-ga-ta
in-ta-e3-a
i3-dab5
iti ezem-szul-gi
mu sza-asz-ru ba-hul
8(gesz2) 5(u) la2 1(disz@t) udu

Scholarly note

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — Akkadica 137, 200-203 06. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Amar-Suen y6 — Šašru destroyed based on canonical year-name formula in the transliteration.

Attribution

Image: TLC 6 (Toppan Rare Books Library, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA) — from Puzriš-Dagan (mod. Drehem) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P416125). source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).

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